According to IPSOS floral tracking study, cut, fresh flowers take center stage for three holidays: Christmas, Mother’s Day and Valentine’s Day. The US imported 976 million cut flower stems in advance of Valentine’s Day last year, between January 1 and February 14. (see CBP article) You might guess these flowers are from the Netherlands. However, the Netherlands supplied only 2% of all imported volume. Seventy-one percent of Valentine’s Day flowers came from Colombia alone and 19% from Ecuador.

The key words of fresh cut flower logistics are “speed” and “refrigeration.” Farmers in Latin America cut flowers at dawn and immediately pack them in temperature-controlled coolers, and these coolers are sent to the airport right away. Cargo airplanes then fly them directly to the US. Ninety percent of imported flowers came through Miami international airport last year. After pest inspection (normally within 24 hours of arrival), these flowers are transferred onto temperature-controlled trucks to flower distributors, which store them in refrigerated warehouses. The journey from the flower farm to the importer generally takes only 24 to 48 hours. An industry term associated with perishable goods logistics is “cold-chain”.